Day: October 12, 2006

ST. LOUIS – Election officials say hundreds of potentially bogus registration cards, including ones for dead and underage people, were submitted by a branch of a national group that has been criticized in the past for similar offenses.

At least 1,500 potentially fraudulent registration cards were turned in by the St. Louis branch of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, leading up to Wednesday’s registration deadline for the Nov. 7 election, said Kim Mathis, chairwoman of the St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners.

“Fifteen hundred may not sound like a lot, but it is a big deal and it disenfranchises the election process,” she said. “It’s time someone be prosecuted. There’s a lot of taxpayer dollars being wasted on this.”

Clinton, a Democratic senator from New York, wife of the former president and a potential presidential candidate herself in 2008, wowed a standing-room-only crowd at the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now convention in Ohio State University’s Mershon Auditorium.

Time after time, Clinton’s remarks were drowned out by applause and cheers from the 2,700 members of the national organization representing low- and moderate-income families on social-justice issues.

At the end of her 17-minute speech, Clinton was besieged by autograph-seekers who thrust ACORN cap visors and programs at her to sign.

I’m sure any day now the Senator, who seemed oh-so-sincere about alleged incidents of voter fraud back in July will be firing off a letter to ACORN’s national leaders condemning the latest instance of fraud committed in by ACORN, this time the St. Louis chapter. I wonder if she was aware while she was making her speach in Ohio back in July that several ACORN locations there had, uh, shall we say “issues” with voter fraud that are well documented:

ACORN And Other Group Registrations In Franklin County, Ohio, Include Dead Person, 25 Addresses For The Same Man, And Suspected Terrorist. “Hundreds of cases of suspected election fraud are under review in Franklin County. â€¦ One application being examined was signed in the name of a man who passed away in February. Another 25 applications show different addresses for the same man. Six of the suspicious forms were submitted by representatives of the Columbus Urban League, while 62 others came from ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. â€¦ And you might recognize the name of Nuradin Abdi. He’s a native of Somalia charged with plotting to blow up a Columbus mall. â€˜As far as board of elections is concerned, Abdi is a registered voter,’ board of elections director Matt Damschroeder said. We now know according to federal officials, he’s an illegal alien. That would mean he can’t legally vote. But the Franklin County Board of Elections had no way of checking that when they sent him a voter registration card early this year.” (“Suspected Terrorist Registered To Vote In Franklin County” WBNS-TV, http://www.10tv.com, Accessed 10/23/04)

Similar Handwriting And False Addresses Found On ACORN Cards In Hamilton County, Ohio. “Hamilton County election officials will meet this morning to discuss 19 voter registrations for people who may not exist, which would be a rare case of election fraud. â€¦ Board of Elections Director John Williams subpoenaed those named on the voter registration cards after similar handwriting and false addresses raised election workers’ suspicions. The sheriff’s department could not find them, he said. The cards were turned in, Williams said, by someone affiliated with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a group that represents low-income people.” (Cindi Andrews, “Alleged Fraudulent Voter Cards Scrutinized” Cincinnati Enquirer, 10/8/04)

ACORN Turned In Registration Cards Past Deadline In Columbus, Ohio. “Officials in Columbus are also investigating possible improprieties by an ACORN worker there. â€¦ [ACORN employee Dierdre] Murch said she took 526 new voter registrations to the board of elections late Thursday that the group found in a mismarked box and are asking the board to accept even though the deadline was Monday.” (Cindi Andrews, “Alleged Fraudulent Voter Cards Scrutinized” Cincinnati Enquirer, 10/8/04)

ACORN Was Forced To Fire Workers After Several “Blatantly False” Voter Registration Forms Were Filed With Elections Officials In Columbus, Ohio. “Two workers with a voter registration drive have been fired over several dozen forms submitted to Franklin County elections officials that were duplicates or had false information, the group’s organizer said. The Columbus branch of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, also agreed Wednesday to perform extra checks on forms turned in by its voter-registration workers before submitting them to the Franklin County Board of Elections. Group organizer Katy Gall said the problems were traced through initials on registration cards to three workers. The third worker already had quit. Gill also said the group will cooperate with prosecutors if authorities want to charge the workers. â€¦ ACORN representatives met Wednesday with Board of Elections officials and pledged to educate employees, require them to wear identification and check all new registrations before submitting them to the county, board director Matthew Damschroder said. ACORN has about 40 workers in the city. The county typically finds fewer than a dozen false registrations a year, he said. Damschroder said several â€˜blatantly false’ forms were turned in by the voter registration effort, in which the nationwide Project Vote uses local ACORN offices to collect registrations. Workers paid $6.25 hourly have registered 23,000 new voters in the county since fall. Some forms have an existing voter’s name with the wrong birth date and Social Security number, and some list fake first names the same last name and address of an existing voter. The board also found forgeries when comparing forms with the images of signatures on file for more than 750,000 Franklin County voters, said Libbie Worley, manager of voter services.” (“Two Voter Registration Drive Workers Fired Over Fake Forms” The Associated Press, 6/3/04)

Warrant Issued For Ohio ACORN Employee Who Forged Signature On Voter Registration Form. “A warrant was issued for a parolee accused of forging a signature on a voter registration form, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said Tuesday. â€¦ Dooley was employed by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, associated with the nonprofit Project Vote, a national group that registers low-income and minority voters, O’Brien said.” (“Warrant Issued For False Registration” The Associated Press, 9/7/04)

To read more on past voter fraud instances from liberal leaning groups, including ACORN, go here.

I’ve posted this a couple of times already and wanted to bump it up again as there are only three days left to contribute to Rightroots. Here’s how to help:

My friend John Hawkins, along with a few of my favorite bloggers, has come up with an answer to left-wing blogosphere’s (Netroots) endorsement and campaign fundraising for several Democratic candidates in House and Senate races all over the country. The answer is Rightroots. Lorie Byrd, one of the bloggers who helped John select the group of candidates to support, explains:

John Hawkins enlisted Mary Katharine Ham, Erick Erickson, Patrick Hynes, Ed Morrissey, Robert Bluey and me (on behalf of Wizbang and Wizbang Politics) to help him compile a list of 18 candidates in competitive Congressional races across the country who could use the support of our readers to make the difference in holding the House and Senate for the GOP.

Incumbents, because they already have name recognition, a good amount of money and support, were not included. We also decided not to wade into any primary fights, so no primary candidates appear on the list. Gubernatorial candidates are subject to different campaign finance laws, so they were also excluded.

Great idea. On the primary front, maybe in 2008 they could get involved in some competitive Republican primaries where challengers to incumbent Republicans who haven’t been doing their jobs would receive some significant support? Just a thought …

We decided to keep the list somewhat short so that maximum attention could be directed to each of the 18 very competitive races, so please don’t be surprised or offended if your favorite candidate is not included. There are literally hundreds of deserving candidates across the country, but we tried to zero in on those congressional races in which we believed our readers could make the most difference.

To see a list of those candidates, click here. Next to their names is the amount that has been contributed so far by Rightroots supporters.

A U.S. based environmental magazine that both former Vice President Al Gore (LINK ) and PBS newsman Bill Moyers, for his October 11th global warming edition of “Moyers on America” titled “Is God Green?” (LINK ) have deemed respectable enough to grant one-on-one interviews to promote their projects, is now advocating Nuremberg-style war crimes trials for skeptics of human caused catastrophic global warming.

Grist Magazine’s staff writer David Roberts called for the Nuremberg-style trials for the “bastards” who were members of what he termed the global warming “denial industry.”

Roberts wrote in the online publication on September 19, 2006, “When we’ve finally gotten serious about global warming, when the impacts are really hitting us and we’re in a full worldwide scramble to minimize the damage, we should have war crimes trials for these bastards — some sort of climate Nuremberg.” (LINK )

Gore and Moyers have not yet commented on Grist’s advocacy of prosecuting skeptics of global warming with a Nuremberg-style war crimes trial. Gore has used the phrase “global warming deniers” to describe scientists and others who don’t share his view of the Earth’s climate. It remains to be seen what Gore and Moyers will have to say about proposals to make skepticism a crime comparable to Holocaust atrocities.

The use of Holocaust terminology has drawn the ire of Roger Pielke, Jr. of the University of Colorado’s Center for Science and Technology Policy Research. “The phrase â€˜climate change denier’ is meant to be evocative of the phrase â€˜holocaust denier,'” Pielke, Jr. wrote on October 9, 2006 (LINK).

I, too, would like to know what Gore and Moyers think of Roberts’ advocacy of Nuremburg-style trials for people who simply disagree with them as to the alleged merits of the theory of global warming. Just imagine had this suggestion come from someone on the right hand side of the aisle. We’d have hearings on the Hill, mass protests in front of the man (or woman’s) home, Bush would be blamed …

In light of this incident, as well as this one, Columbia U. might want to consider beefing up it’s PR department, not to mention re-examine the thought process that leads to bad last minute decisions like this one.